Re: Question regarding Upper Paleolithic

Thank you VERY much for that information, and the Google suggestion. I will
try it right now!

"Franz Gnaedinger" <frgn@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1124874245.071228.212430@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> VBM wrote:
>
> > OK, Paleo newbie here.
> >
> > In a TTC lecture on anthropology I was listening to recently, the
professor
> > was discussing the upper paleolithic in near halcion terms. The folks
were
> > taller, stronger, healthier, lived longer, had fewer diseases, a broader
> > diet, little (if any) indication of warfare, no famine, more leisure
time
> > and no body odor (OK, that last one I made up). The professor went on
to
> > describe the neolithic revolution as a relative descent into "nasty,
brutish
> > and short". Once mankind began farming and herding, this lifestyle
became a
> > ball and chain, they became slaves to their own technological advances.
>
> A rather romantic picture of the Upper Paleolithic. Consider how damn
> cold and harsh it was in those times. On the other hand, the biblical
> story of Adam and Eve most probably refers to the origin of agriculture
> and the labours involved. Yes, we became slaves to our technological
> advances, and yet we have the intelligence and sensibility to advance
> culture as well, to balance technology and nature including human
> nature.
>
> > I am exaggerating the professor's position a bit, but not much. Is this
> > rosy picture of the Upper Paleolithic generally accepted? Sounds like a
> > Jean Auel version, and I always assumed she "cleaned it up".
> >
> > Also, here is an excerpt from an article, and I was wondering whether
there
> > are any major mistatements in it:
> > "The archaeological picture changed dramatically around 40-50,000 years
ago
> > with the appearance of behaviorally modern humans. This was an abrupt
and
> > dramatic change in subsistence patterns, tools and symbolic expression.
The
> > stunning change in cultural adaptation was not merely a quantitative
one,
> > but one that represented a significant departure from all earlier human
> > behavior, reflecting a major qualitative transformation. It was
literally a
> > "creative explosion" which exhibited the "technological ingenuity,
social
> > formations, and ideological complexity of historic hunter-gatherers."7
This
> > human revolution is precisely what made us who we are today.
> >
> > The Upper Paleolithic lifestyle, as it was called, was based essentially
on
> > hunting and gathering. So successful was this cultural adaptation that
until
> > roughly 11,000 years ago, hominids worldwide were subsisting essentially
as
> > hunter-gatherers.
> >
> > In the Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia, or the Late Stone Age as it is
called
> > in Africa, the archaeological signature stands in strong contrast to
that of
> > the Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age. It was characterized by
significant
> > innovation:
> >
> > * a remarkable diversity in stone tool types
> >
> > * tool types showed significant change over time and space
> >
> > * artifacts were regularly fashioned out of bone, antler and ivory, in
> > addition to stone
> >
> > * stone artifacts were made primarily on blades and were easily
classified
> > into discrete categories, presumably reflecting specialized use
> >
> > * burials were accompanied by ritual or ceremony and contained a rich
> > diversity of grave goods
> >
> > * living structures and well-designed fireplaces were constructed
> >
> > * hunting of dangerous animal species and fishing occurred regularly
> >
> > higher population densities
> >
> > * abundant and elaborate art as well as items of personal adornment were
> > widespread
> >
> > * raw materials such as flint and shells were traded over some distances
> >
> > Homo sapiens of the Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age was
quintessentially
> > modern in appearance and behavior. Precisely how this transformation
> > occurred is not well understood, but it apparently was restricted to
Homo
> > sapiens and did not occur in Neanderthals. Some archaeologists invoke a
> > behavioral explanation for the change. For example, Soffer11 suggests
that
> > changes in social relations, such as development of the nuclear family,
> > played a key role in bringing about the transformation.
> >
> > Klein7, on the other hand, proffers the notion that it was probably a
> > biological change brought about by mutations that played the key role in
the
> > emergence of behaviorally modern humans. His biologically based
explanation
> > implies that a major neural reorganization of the brain resulted in a
> > significant enhancement in the manner in which the brain processed
> > information. This is a difficult hypothesis to test since brains do not
> > fossilize. But it is significant that no changes are seen in the shape
of
> > the skulls between earlier and later Homo sapiens. It can only be
surmised
> > from the archaeological record, which contains abundant evidence for
ritual
> > and art, that these Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age peoples possessed
> > language abilities equivalent to our own. For many anthropologists this
> > represents the final evolutionary leap to full modernity."
> >
> > http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/johanson.html
>
> Professor Christopher Henshilwood, excavator of the Blombos Cave
> in Southern Africa, has been correcting that picture recently.
> Modern human behaviour arose already in the Middle Stone Age,
> 75,000 years ago. Do a Google query for the excellent Blombos Cave
> site, go for: "blombos cave project"
>
> Hominids populated Africa for seven million years, the oldest honinid
> known so far is Toumai, Child of Hope. Homo erectus left Africa between
> 800,000 and 400,000 years ago. Out of Homo erectus evolved Neanderthal
> man, and Homo heidelbergensis, our direct ancestor. Charles Darwin
> believed in a gradual evolution, one species slowly being transformed
> into another one. Nils Eldrege and Stephen Jay Gould introduced a
> different model they called punctuated equilibrium: a new species
> arises in a relatively short period of time, and can then persist for
> eons. Homo sapiens sapiens originated in Western Africa somewhere
> between 230,000 und 150,000 years ago. This has been found by means
> of analyzing mitochondrial DNA handed down by women only: the widest
> variety is occurring in Western Africa, so there must have lived the
> oldest human population. I would say that modern human behaviour went
> along with the first humans of our kind in Western Africa, but for the
> time being we can only affirm a date of 75,000 BP for Southern Africa.
>
> Regards Franz Gnaedinger www.seshat.ch
>


.

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